Reviews by ZenAgnostic:

My wife is a musician on tour, and this was one of the venues she played. The first and only one on the tour (so far) that's listed on BeerAdvocate. Nice to do a show at a place that serves more than just BMC!

I tried a local beer made here in Youngstown, OH. Was delicious. Tried a beer from Ithaca Beer Co. since the wife of Greg Graffin (singer, Bad Religion) works at that brewery. Beer was fresh and delicious as well. No stale tap lines or old bottles here. This place is bustling at night, so the brew is fresh and good to go.

Service was great. Then again we may have had preferential treatment since my wife was performing. Doubt it though, they seem to be genuinely nice people. Helpful too. And one bartender who I talked to knew a bit about craft beer, even ones not being served. The bartendress was cute too :).

Pretty decent selection. Maybe something like 20-30 bottles (including some bombers) and 9 or so on tap. Nothing noteworthy, but there'll definitely be something new here you haven't had (even if it's only the local brew, which is pretty good).

Food was delicious as well. Had a sandwich and then later in the night a hummus plate. Prices were reasonable. A little on the expensive side, but it's a bar after all.

Atmosphere got pretty noisy later on in the night because the place gets pretty packed. Also, the live bands later in the night played lots of cover songs (and did them well). Not the best place to enjoy or rate a craft beer late at night, but up until about 10pm on a Saturday night it's pretty calm.

My only real gripe was that their glassware was kinda lame, so I had to bust out my Trois Pistoles snifter that I've been carrying around this whole tour. I don't know if it's their dishwasher or the local water supply, but the cups smelled like dust or perhaps vaguely of dishwashing machine detergent. There even seemed to be some visible etching/residue. Whatever it is, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed my beer nearly as much if I didn't bring my own glassware. Take that as you will.

Maybe just ask them to rinse out the glass with soda water. (They came up with that idea and offered kindly to do that for me with my own glassware in between beers).

I don't know what else the city has to offer in terms of craft beer, but I enjoyed this place and overall recommend it.

More User Reviews:

My wife wanted martini's but the best martini bar in town didn't open for another two hours. So we went to the Lemon Grove which was only two buildings down. I'd been wanting to go there for a while. Man, I wish I'd gone sooner.

Great bottle selection, great tap selection. Wasn't expecting this in Youngstown. Rustbelt, Paulaner, Great Lakes, Hoppin Frog, Unibrou, Thirsty Dog, Victory, and a lot more that I'm undoubtedly forgetting. Not over priced either.

Local art all over the wall, very comforting atmosphere. If you don't like crowds, get there at lunch time or early evening. If you like crowds and loud music, get there for the late evening hours.

If you've been to Youngstown, Ohio, you know what's in store. A struggling steel town. A dead downtown full of decaying buildings and empty lots. A crime rate that will scare you before anything actually happens.

And so you're walking on downtown Youngstown on a Sunday afternoon, looking for some food... there is absolutely nothing. And then you find some chairs and a patio out in the street, and some lights... and life!

Welcome to The Lemon Grove.

It felt like heaven for me and my family posse. The Grove is a nice college-town cafe with a quirky atmosphere, lots of local art on the walls, nice basic food and a great beer selection (which they proudly display on a chalkboard over the bar).